Burg Hohenneufen, und Auf Wiedersehen

Auf Wiedersehen, Deutschland! Another trip in the books, we're homeward bound. We did a little final shopping in Stuttgart, including a visit to the tower at Killesberg and some refreshing Schorle (fruit juice mixed with sparkling water, coming soon to a cider pressing near you!) in the park. We missed out on visiting the museum of Jon's new employer (the Mercedes-Benz museum is closed on Monday, Google lied to us!), and Jon had blisters from previous weeks of hiking up and down mountains, and it was bloody hot... but the Apfelschorle was all the more refreshing for it!

 Anne, great friend that she is, knew that the one place I would want to go if I had a single day left in Germany is a castle. So that's where she took us! The restaurant at Burg Hohenneufen ("Hoh-en-noy-fen") was closed (yaaay, Mondays!) but we had a snack at the Wurstl stand. When I asked for a fork to eat my wurstl with, the guy running the stand told me that the Swebians eat them with their fingers. I still don't know if he was pulling my leg or in earnest, but it made me laugh! 

We wandered around the ruin for a bit after our lunch, then ended up eating at the restaurant at Anne's boss's tennis club... where we finished out our evening eating what Germans like best, Italian food. Isn't it funny, how 'national dishes' become something of a postcard image, and seemingly random imports take their place on family dinner tables? Like Brits eating curry, or Americans eating beer n' brats, Germans eat Italian food. As someone who has eaten her fair share of pizza in Germany and Austria, I laughed a little. If my regular biergarten order is still available, I'm all for it!

 Technically, by the time this posts I'll be closer to returning to Germany than to when Jon and I left. To say "auf Wiedersehen," "until we see each other again," comes this time with a knowing of when. Of course, there have been a few adventures to share in Washington and Oregon before I get to this next trip...